Salida festival will feature microbrews

SALIDA — When microbrewing beer fans converge here for their annual showcase Saturday, down pours and the aged will be the toast of the town.

A beer called Down Pour, featuring fresh hops grown in Paonia, barrel-aged beers and a collaborative ale made by two local breweries will be among quaffs worth seeking out.

The 18th annual Colorado Brewers Rendezvous is scheduled to run from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday at Riverside Park, First and Sackett. A record number of 75 Colorado breweries will be represented, said Xandee Bustamante, of Elevation Beer Co.

Elevation will be serving up its 8 Second beer, a best-seller for the fledgling microbrewery, which is an ale made in the Kolsch German-style somewhat similar to a pilsner, Bustamante said. It is from the green series of beer, which is akin to the ski slope rating — for beginners.

For the double black diamond brave beer drinkers, they will be a recently released barrel aged Signal de Botrange, which is made in the Belgium farmhouse-style Chardonnay tradition. It has a whopping 9.8 percent alcohol, he said.

One new twist this year will be a collaborative beer brewed by Scott Bouldin of Moonlight Pizza and Amica’s head brewer Mike LaCroix. The resulting 200 gallons of top-secret beer will be simultaneously released Saturday at the rendezvous and both restaurants — Moonlight at Third and F Street, and Amicas at 136 E. Second St.

“I brewed half and he is brewing half and we mix the two together. It will be on tap at the chamber VIP tent. I am really excited about how it is turning out,” Bouldin said.

“LaCroix is a phenomenal brewer and this will be my first year at the rendezvous so it should be a lot of fun,” Bouldin said.

The event is a fundraiser for Colorado Brewer’s Guild, which promotes the state’s homegrown ales. If local microbreweries are any indication, it is a growing business.

“We were four friends hanging out at a backyard barbecue when we decided to start this business. After two years of coming up with a business plan, we opened two years ago.

We’ve expanded three times since then,” Bustamante said of Elevation.

That first year’s 935 barrels was more than last year when Elevation brewed 2,635 barrels.

“This year, we are on pace to make 4,000 to 5,000 barrels,” Bustamante said.

The business is owned by Bustamante, his wife, Sheila, a Buena Vista High School grad, along with their partners Christian Koch and Carlin Walsh, another Buena Vista High alumnus. Offerings range from specialty beers to champagne-style ales, along with more mainstream-style India Pale Ales and dark rich porters.

Located at 115 Pahlone Parkway in the Poncha Springs Industrial Park, Elevation also features a tasting room with a recently installed patio, which is open 2 to 8 p.m. weekdays and noon to 8 p.m. on weekends. Tours are given at 3 and 5 p.m. every Saturday.

“We are up to 13 full-time employees and our brews are available statewide as well as in Arizona and Texas.